Advertising Age's Small Agency Awards

We're Looking to Honor the Best Players in the U.S. and Abroad, Regardless of Marketing Discipline

Published on March 23, 2009.

Bogusky's said it. So has Jeff Goodby. Ad Age often misses the great stuff that comes out of America's smaller shops.

We think they're right -- we've always unashamedly followed the money, and that's bound to mean we overlook some of the smaller players. We'd also argue that we're not alone. Most of the major award shows end up dominated by the biggest agencies, which collectively spend millions to enter tens of thousands of times. (As AdAge.com reported last week, BBDO spent $250,000 entering this year's One Show more than 750 times.)

That's why we're launching the Small Agency Awards. The aim of the awards is to try to uncover the best small agencies both in the U.S. (those agencies with fewer than 75 employees) and overseas (those agencies with fewer than 50 employees).

We are charging $150 per entry. Every shop that meets the size requirement is eligible, regardless of marketing discipline. And we're not splitting this into categories by medium -- we're far more interested in finding the best ideas that did the most to move business.

Indeed, there are only two categories: Best Small Agency and Best Small Agency Campaign. We will, however, recognize not only a U.S. winner and an international winner, but also regional finalists for each category. All entries
will be via our website -- and the deadline for entries is May 22.

We'll be publishing profiles of all the winning agencies and campaigns July 27, both in print and online, and creating an archive of all the finalists' best work. Small is the new big, and Ad Age is excited to uncover some of the great marketing that has gone unheralded -- until now.